


All Systems Go

by garafthel (sister_wolf)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Female Bofur, Female Dori (Tolkien), Female Ori (Tolkien), M/M, Psychic Bond, The Drift (Pacific Rim), waves cheerfully at canon as it wanders past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sister_wolf/pseuds/garafthel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nori was never meant to be a Jaeger pilot. Dwalin was born to be one.</p><p>Pacific Rim Fusion AU. [Stalled out, may never be updated.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basic premise of Pacific Rim: There are immense monsters called Kaiju which come from the depths of the ocean and rampage through coastal cities. They are hunted and killed by giant robots called Jaegers, which must be piloted by at least two pilots. These pilots enter into a neural connection called the Drift, which allows them to share a mind as they pilot the Jaeger together. Pilots in the Drift share memories along with their conscious thoughts. 
> 
> I don't even know, guys.

"You can't be serious, sir," Dwalin said. "Nori Rivers is a criminal. He's not Jaeger pilot material."

"Are you questioning my judgement, Fundinson?" Marshal Elrond asked. His voice was calm but Dwalin could see the promise of anger in the way his eyes narrowed.

Behind the Marshal's back, the redhead in question smirked at Dwalin, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "See?"

Dwalin growled under his breath. "No, sir. But with all due respect, the Drift won't work if the pilots are incompatible."

"You are compatible." The Marshal pierced them both with a look. "Suit up and be on deck in five," he ordered before walking away.

Shaking his head, Dwalin frowned at Rivers. "How did you convince anyone you could cut it as a Jaeger pilot?"

"My natural charm," Rivers said with a smile that was all teeth. "C'mon, old man. Unless you're not up for it." 

Dwalin growled, but the skinny little shit was already striding down the corridor, long red braid shifting across his back as he walked. Dwalin hated himself when the thought of that braid wrapped around his fist flashed through his mind. 

Nori Rivers was an unrepentant thief, a criminal, and yet Dwalin wanted him, wanted him with a deep and abiding desire, and that was why Dwalin hated him as much as he desired him. And in about ten minutes, they were going to be strapped in together in a machine that would meld their minds completely. Every thought that either of them had ever had would be stripped bare and exposed.

Dwalin punched a bulkhead, pulling the strike at the last moment so that he wouldn't break his knuckles. "Mahal damn it," he growled. An Elf in a tech jumpsuit gave him a terrified look and scurried by as far to the other side of the corridor as possible.

Well, shit. Orders were orders. Time to suit up, Dwalin thought.

***

The staging area was crowded with techs buzzing around the Jaeger suits. The other Jaeger pilots were standing by to see the new team enter the Drift for the first time: Elrohir, Elladan, and Arwen, twin brothers and sister team of Elven pilots; Dis and Thorin Durin, brother and sister team of Dwarven pilots; and Thranduil, Legolas, and Tauriel of Mirkwood, more Elven pilots (Nori wasn't totally clear on how they were related.) Nori nodded politely to the Elven pilots. Most of them ignored him except for Arwen, who gave him a smile of such shy sweetness that he almost couldn't believe she was the daughter of the strict, grim Marshal Elrond.

Nori gave Thorin a respectful fistbump and then hugged Dis, pressing his nose into her hair and smelling her lavender shampoo. "Thought you were retired," he said when he finally pulled back to look at her.

"I was. This is too big to sit out," she said with an unhappy smile. "End of the world and all."

Over her shoulder, Nori caught sight of Dwalin frowning at him thunderously. Mahal's fucking bollocks, did Dwalin honestly think that Nori would make a move on a widow who was still grieving for her dead husband? What an asshole.

"We'll watch your back," Nori promised.

"About that..." Dis gave Thorin a look and he immediately went to distract Dwalin. Like all experienced Jaeger pilots, the Durin siblings had developed a level of communication that almost resembled telepathy when they were out of the Drift.

Dis pulled Nori to the side. "The Marshal is pairing you with Dwalin?" she asked, looking concerned.

Nori shrugged. "Yeah, I don't get it either. But the wizards have come up with some kind of gadget that measures Drift compatibility, and according to them I'm one hundred percent compatible with Fundinson."

"Really?" Dis raised an eyebrow. "Did they design that thing while they were high?"

"Maybe," Nori chuckled. "I don't know, Dis. I think we're gonna get into the Drift and Dwalin's going to psychically throat punch me or something. But the Marshal made up his mind, and..." he spread his hands out. They both knew how immovable Marshal Elrond could be once he made a decision.

"All right," she said. "Be careful."

"Always am," Nori said, winking at her.

***

"Confirm helmet mikes live," Ori said into her microphone. The hustle and bustle of the crowded ops room faded out behind her and she focused on the sound coming through her headset and the numbers scrolling up her display. 

"Aye, helmet sound is good," Dwalin Fundinson reported.

There was a pause and then Nori's voice came over the headset. "Helmet sound is good, Dormouse," he said.

Ori flushed. "Nori, you're not supposed to use nicknames over official channels," she muttered.

From the next chair over, Fili Durin raised his eyebrows at her and mouthed, "Dormouse?" Ori covered her face with her hands. She was never, ever going to live that down. 

Taking a deep breath, Ori opened her eyes and composed herself. She had a job to do. "Helmet mikes live, confirmed," she said in her most professional voice. "Your numbers all look good, Mirrormere, you are go for Drift."

"Go for Drift, aye," Dwalin said calmly.

Nori sounded a lot more nervous as he said, "Initiating Drift sequence in five, four, three..."

***

"...two, one," Nori said, and then the blinking lights of the cockpit were gone and he was wandering through a 

gray cloud

flashes of scenes flying by, his mother singing a lullaby, his older brother playing catch with him, his father stern and proud in Ereborean Guard uniform

his brother next to him in the Jaeger cockpit, reassuring smile before they drifted together for the first time, always trusted Balin with his life, not hard to trust him with his mind and his soul too, the Drift matching effortlessly as they melded into one mind

fighting the Kaiju off the coast of Forlindon, the absolute shock as the thing pierced through the Jaeger's armor, hearing his brother scream as he felt the hit going through Balin's left leg, their Jaeger crushing the life out of the Kaiju as Balin barely hung onto consciousness

his brother sitting in a wheelchair, left leg ending shockingly just below the knee, telling him _you need to keep going, Dwalin, you can't give up, you were born to be a Jaeger pilot_

And then suddenly Nori saw himself

long red braid swaying across his back, laughing hazel eyes, quick fingers producing a wallet (Dwalin's wallet) with a cheeky smile and a mocking bow

thief con-man criminal 

want him _don't want him_

Nori's braid wound around Dwalin's fist, his face transformed with pleasure as Dwalin fucked him against the ops room window, Nori's free hand pressed against the glass as he stroked himself off with the other hand

(Nori blinked with shock, almost thrown out of the Drift before realizing he's seeing Dwalin's fantasy, the vision oddly doubling as he saw the memory of Dwalin lying in his bunk masturbating as he thought about fucking Nori against the ops room window, then tripling as he saw Dwalin--the real Dwalin, he thought--standing across from him looking angry and mortified.)

" _That's_ why you've always been such an asshole to me?" Nori demanded.

"This is private," Dwalin growled. "You shouldn't be here."

"Nothing's private in the Drift. I hope you enjoyed your tour through the Rivers family dysfunction," Nori said with a smile that was more like a snarl. "Ori doesn't know about the really ugly stuff, so if you value your life you will not speak of what you have learned here to anyone."

Between them, the memory of Dwalin orgasmed with a shout of, "Nori!" The real Dwalin flushed dull red with embarrassment. "I would appreciate the same courtesy," he said stiffly.

"Don't want anyone knowing that Mr. Perfect Hero, Erebor's Finest, wants to fuck a cocky little street thief so badly he can almost _taste_ it?" Nori asked. "Fine."

Nori stalked toward him, walking through memory-Dwalin to stand in front of real Dwalin. "But if you ever get sick of hating yourself, come knock on my door and we'll try it out for real. Just keep in mind, I'm not _anyone's_ dirty little secret. Understood?"

"Aye," Dwalin breathed. "Understood."

"Great. By the way, I think we're Drift-compatible," Nori said casually.

Dwalin snorted. "You think?"

***

The ops room was almost silent as everyone stared at the immense bulk of the Mirrormere, holding their breath. Nothing had come over the communications channel since Nori had completed the countdown. Normally a first Drift attempt was quick, less than a minute before the pilots were either thrown out of the Drift with blinding migraines or calmly reported a successful Drift. It had been almost ten minutes of silence.

Ori watched the numbers scrolling across her screen obsessively, folding and re-folding a print-out until it started to fall apart at the folds.

The Marshal stood behind her, silent and absolutely calm. He wouldn't ask, of course, and so Ori volunteered, "Their vitals are strong. Slight elevation in heartbeat, but nothing worrying."

He nodded. "Thank you, Miss Rivers."

Then finally Nori's voice came crackling across the communications channel. "Mirrormere reporting a successful Drift," he said.

The ops room erupted in cheers. Ori leaped to her feet, hugging Fili and then staggering slightly as Kili tacklehugged both of them. 

Marshal Elrond leaned over and spoke into the microphone. "Good work, pilots Fundinson and Rivers." For once, he was actually smiling.

***

After the hell that was the Battle of the Grey Havens (almost losing all four of their Jaegers, saved at the last minute by the small, fast, Hobbit-piloted Jaeger that everyone had been mocking a few days earlier), Nori wanted nothing more than to take a long, hot shower and then faceplant on his bed and stay there for oh, about a month or so.

He had completed the first part of his plan and had just finished towelling himself off when there was a knock at his bunk room door. "What?" he demanded, fastening a towel around his hips as he threw open the door.

Dwalin stood on the other side of the door, his hand still raised to knock. "Hair," he said, sounding stunned. Then he shook his head hard and asked, "Can I come in?"

Nori leaned against his doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. The towel was just barely hanging on to his hips. "You like my hair, huh?" he smirked. 

Dwalin looked grumpy, which was as good as an admission. Nori laughed under his breath. 

"Listen," Nori said, "I meant what I said before. If I let you in this room I am _not_ going to be your dirty little secret. I'm not saying I want a marriage braid but I do want you to publically admit what we are to each other. If you're not all right with that, I'll close this door and we never need speak of it again. You know my reasons."

Dwalin nodded. He did know Nori's reasons, after wandering through memory after grey-toned memory of the Rivers siblings' mother and her years of living as the secret mistress of a high-ranking Ereborean general. He'd seen her through Nori's eyes, growing old and drawn before her time, loving a man who loved nothing more than his position and reputation. 

Dwalin would give Nori his word, but he knew how many promises given to the middle Rivers sibling had been broken over the years.

"Hey, you. Hobbit," Dwalin called out to a passing Hobbit.

The Hobbit, who Dwalin vaguely recognized as one of the six Hobbit Jaeger pilots (six pilots for one Jaeger!) jumped and made a vaguely terrified noise. "Y--yes?" he stuttered.

"Go tell everyone in the mess hall that Nori and me--Dwalin--are lovers."

The Hobbit's eyes were huge as he glanced uncertainly at Nori. 

Nori grinned at him. "Go ahead," he said. "Hey, tell Ori Rivers first, all right? She's a little red-headed Dwarf, wearing a cardigan. She'll probably be sitting with two young fools, one brunet and one blond. You got that?"

The Hobbit nodded slowly. "Tell Ori Rivers that Nori and Dwalin are lovers," he said obediently, then scurried off in the direction of the mess hall.

Dwalin looked at Nori. Nori smoldered back at him. "C'mere," Nori said. 

Dwalin walked over and stood looking down at him. "Aye, lad?" he asked.

Nori hooked a finger into one of Dwalin's belt loops. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, and drew Dwalin with him into his room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise how often this will be updated, just so you're warned. Foxes and Geese takes the vast majority of my writing energy right now.
> 
> I'm genderswapping characters to make the gender ratio a little less imbalanced. So far, I've genderswapped Ori and Bofur. I'm sure there will be more. Muahahaha, the power.

Kili had been a toddler when a Category Two Kaiju killed his and Fili's dad. Their mom had survived the attack, managing to pilot the badly damaged Jaeger to shore before passing out from the shock of feeling her husband die while they were connected by the Drift. She was never the same again, always sad, even though she did her best to seem normal for Fili and Kili's sakes.

She began training Jaeger pilots after making it utterly clear to the higher-ups that she would never pilot again. Marshal Elrond gave her his complete support. Kili knew (because Jaeger techs always knew the best gossip) that he'd been under pressure to make Dis pilot again. But the Marshal was one of them, had been one of the first generation of Jaeger pilots, and he would not be budged.

Kili and Fili had grown up as Jaeger brats, running around the base and treating the Jaegers like jungle gyms. The Jaeger Guard (the official name was Pan Belegaer Guard, but no one called it that) wasn't a traditional military, and so traditional military rules applied only so long as the Marshal found them useful. He didn't see any advantage, Elrond said, to forcing families to live apart when the Jaeger base had more than enough room to house them and food to feed them.

When Kili was a little older but still a kid, Nori told him that they were fucking lucky they had no idea what the world outside the base was like. "It's bad out there, kid. Rations are scarce and jobs are even scarcer. Someone would knife you for that apple," he said, and a knife magically appeared in his hand as he pointed at the apple Kili was munching on.

Kili froze, swallowing a chunk of apple with great difficulty. Nori winked and made the knife disappear in his sleeve, going slow enough that Kili could follow what he was doing. "Is that why you're a thief?" Kili asked.

"Who told you that?" Nori picked up the piece of equipment he'd been working on, doing something complicated with wires, when Kili had approached. 

"Um. I don't know if I should say." Kili watched Nori bend wires, fascinated by how quickly and precisely he worked. Nori teched for Fili and Kili's great-grandfather Thror and uncle Frerin in their heavy second-generation Jaeger, Durin's Anvil. Thror said that Nori was the best Jaeger tech on base.

"I already know it was Dwalin Fundinson," Nori said. He shook his head. "I don't know why that asshole has such a hate-on for me."

"Um," Kili said, feeling awkward. Dwalin was best friends with Uncle Thorin. Kili and Fili called him "Uncle Dwalin."

Nori flashed him a quick smile. "Don't worry about it, kid. Thror and Frerin have my back." 

When Kili was a little older but not yet an adult, Durin's Anvil went down off the Cape of Forochel fighting a Category Three Kaiju, killing both Thror and Frerin. That same year their grandfather, Thrain, disappeared without a trace, and then Uncle Thorin quit the Jaeger Guard and crawled into a bottle (in Dis's words.) 

When Kili emerged from his haze of grief and anger, he found out that Nori had also quit the Guard after Durin's Anvil was destroyed. No one knew where he'd gone, not even his little sister Ori.

Ori was a little younger than Kili and she liked books (a lot) and didn't much care for running around the base causing trouble, so Fili and Kili had never spent much time with her growing up. Plus, girl. But Kili found that when he actually sat down and talked to her, she was pretty cool. She knew everything about the history of the Jaeger program, back to its very beginning.

Somehow, while Fili was still hiding in his bunk being angry at the world, Kili and Ori became friends. Good friends. Best friends.

Once Fili was willing to deal with the world again, he was surprised at first by how close Kili and Ori had become. He was also (Kili thought) more than a little jealous. But he got over it quickly, and then it was the three of them together, always. They were too young to pilot Jaegers, but they had a plan that once they all reached full adulthood, they would pilot a Jaeger together. Three pilots, just like those snotty Elves.

When Kili was just past full adulthood but hadn't yet convinced his mom that she should let him and Fili train to pilot a Jaeger, three things happened: the frequency of Kaiju attacks dramatically increased, Dis decided to come out of retirement as a pilot and dragged Thorin back with her, and Nori returned.

Kili heard that Nori was back from Bofur, who teched for Thorin and Dis. 

Pushing her trademark hat to the back of her head, Bofur said, "I heard that Marshal Elrond sent the Marchwardens to go find Nori. Nobody knows why, and Elrond ain't saying. But there's a rumor," she drew out the word exaggeratedly, "going around that it has something to do with the mandatory Drift compatibility testing that everyone had to go through last month."

"Everyone except me and Fili and Ori, you mean," Kili said.

Bofur smiled at him, showing the gap between her front teeth. Her hair was in pigtail braids, as usual, and she had the top of her coveralls shoved down with the arms tied around her waist. "I'm sure they'll let you three into pilot training soon," she said. "Just be patient."

"I hate being patient," Kili sighed. "Where's Nori right now?"

"With the Marshal," she said. "I really hope he passes the Drift testing. It'd be nice to have some pilots around here who aren't nobs. No offense."

"None taken," Kili shrugged. Yeah, technically he was a prince, but Erebor was a constitutional monarchy so it wasn't like it actually mattered anymore.

"Where's your other two thirds?" she asked.

"Getting ready for work. We've got a shift in the ops room starting in..." Kili looked at his watch. "Oh, shit," he said, bolting for the elevator. Behind him, he could hear Bofur laughing at him.

Kili slid into his chair with seconds to spare before the start of his shift. Ori glanced back at him from her desk in front of the ops room window. He could tell she was sighing at him, even if he couldn't hear her over the background noise of Ops. Sitting at the next desk over from Ori, Fili grinned at him, laughing when Kili made an insulting gesture in Iglishmiek at him.

"Gentlemen, ladies, and children," Warden Haldir said in tones of great disdain. "Could we perhaps concentrate on doing our jobs rather than messing around?" Haldir was in charge of Operations, which meant that he was their direct boss. Also, a snooty asshole, but that pretty much came standard with Elves.

Ducking his head and concentrating on his monitor, Kili mumbled, "Yessir."

"I have received word from the Marshal that we are to expect a Jaeger test activation this afternoon," Haldir announced. "Mahal's Hammer will be activated for a Drift compatibility test for Pilot Dwalin Fundinson and Nori Rivers." 

Belatedly, Kili thought to wonder if anyone had told Ori that her brother was back, but she didn't look surprised so he guessed that someone must have.

Kili bounced a little in his seat. This was so cool! Nori was totally cool and mysterious, but he'd always had a moment to talk to Kili and tell him a joke. Though, now that he thought of it, hadn't Nori said that Dwalin hated him? How would that work, if two people who hated each other tried to co-pilot a Jaeger? Kili almost wanted to tell Ori not to get her hopes up about Nori becoming a pilot, but his desk was separated from Ori and Fili's for a reason. And that reason was looming over his desk glaring at him.

Kili gave Warden Haldir a hasty salute and turned back to his monitor. 

Of course, then it turned out that Nori and Dwalin were one hundred percent Drift compatible, even if they still seemed to hate each other. Normal Jaeger pilot teams did everything together, but other than the time they spent piloting, Nori and Dwalin were never seen together. And actually, other than the time he spent piloting or eating, Nori was nowhere to be found.

After about a week of trying, Kili finally managed to track down Nori to his hiding place, which turned out to be terrifyingly high in the rafters over the Jaeger bay. Kili, like most Dwarves, was not terribly fond of heights. They were Dwarves, made to delve in the mountains. Being up in the open air like this was just _unnatural_.

Nori took one look at Kili's face and started laughing. "You look like you swallowed a lemon," he said, casually standing up on the H beam and walking back to the catwalk where Kili was standing like a _normal_ person. Nori sat balanced on the railing of the catwalk and asked, "That better?"

Kili tried hard not to look down at the hundreds of feet of open space below them. "Not really, no."

Nori chuckled. "How've you been, kid? I heard from Ori that you and Fili are her best friends now."

Kili shrugged. "We kind of bonded, after... everything happened with great-grandfather and Uncle Frerin, and then grandfather disappearing."

"And then I disappeared too," Nori said, sighing. "I am sorry for that. I just couldn't face coming back here after... Your Uncle Frerin was a good friend. My best friend, really."

"Where did you go? Ori looked everywhere and she couldn't find a trace of you. And Ori can find info on anyone." Her hacking skills were a little scary, actually.

"I was off the grid. There's a big business in selling Kaiju parts. They don't ask questions and they don't officially exist, and neither does anyone working for them." Nori pulled his pipe out of hs coverall pocket and lit it as he talked.

"Why would anyone want Kaiju parts?" Kili demanded, his nose wrinkling.

Nori shrugged. "Apparently you can use it for stuff. Magic and potions and shit. I didn't really care, I just needed a paycheck."

"So, now that you're back, you're going to stay, right?" Kili knew that Ori would be heartbroken if her older brother disappeared without a trace again.

"Until they throw me out," Nori said, smirking.

"How is piloting with Dwalin working out? I know the two of you don't really get along."

Nori grinned, glancing away like he had a particularly juicy secret. "We've worked out that he doesn't actually hate me. I'll let you know if anything else develops."

The conversation went on to other topics then, but afterwards Kili kept wondering what exactly Nori had meant by "if anything else develops." Anything else like what?

Then the battle of the Grey Havens happened. Their mom and Uncle Thorin almost died, which was Kili's absolute, one hundred percent _worst_ nightmare. The Hobbit Jaeger, which honestly everyone had been making fun of a few days before, turned up in the nick of time and saved the day.

After everything was over, Kili, Fili, and Ori sat slowly eating in the mess hall in a haze of exhaustion. Kili really wanted sleep more than anything, but Ori had put her foot down and said that they hadn't eaten in almost twenty-four hours and they were _going_ to eat something before they went to bed, so help her Mahal. Fili was almost falling asleep in his mashed potatoes.

Nori had grabbed a sandwich and left, followed a few minutes later by Dwalin. Kili was kind of surprised that Dwalin hadn't stayed to eat, but he didn't think too much about it.

One of the Hobbit pilots--Kili thought his name might be Boggins?--entered the mess hall, looking harried. He scanned over the tables until he found them and then marched straight across the room toward them. 

Kili watched the Hobbit approach, feeling weirdly like his head wasn't attached to his body anymore. Sleep dep was awful. Or awesome. One or the other.

"Excuse me. Are you Ori Rivers?" the Hobbit asked politely.

Ori startled slightly. Kili thought she might have been drifting off as she cradled her mug of tea. "At your service," she said, blinking.

"I have a message for you." The Hobbit took a deep breath, looking a complicated mixture of embarrassed, unwillingly amused, and annoyed. "Nori Rivers and Dwalin Fundinson instructed me to tell you, and I quote, "Nori and Dwalin are lovers."" He straightened his jumpsuit, nodded to the three gaping-jawed Dwarves, and turned to leave.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Kili said, jumping to his feet. "Mr. Boggins! You can't just say that and leave!"

"But I can," the Hobbit said. "And I am." He paused and then added, "Also, it's _Baggins_."

"Were they joking?" Ori asked. "Wait, does Dwalin Fundinson even have a sense of humor?"

Fili shrugged. "Sort of? He enjoys laughing at other people's idiocy, anyway."

The Hobbit shook his head. "Pilot Fundinson was standing at Pilot Rivers' door while Pilot Rivers was, ah," his ear-tips turned pink, "dressed only in a towel. Also, there were looks of some _intensity_ being exchanged. If it was a joke, it was extremely convincing."

"Oh, by Durin's hammer!" Kili yelled, smacking his forehead. " _That's_ what he meant by _if anything else develops!_ "

Ori poured a fresh cup of tea in a spare mug and pushed it across the table, saying, "Please join us, Pilot Baggins."

Looking reluctant, the Hobbit sat down with an awkward hop onto the Dwarf-sized bench and took a careful sip of the tea. 

Ori leaned forward and said, "Now, tell us _everything_ , starting from the beginning." 

The Hobbit's eyes widened. Kili almost felt sorry for him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nori Rivers! You _asshole!_ "

Nori spun around, expecting to see someone he'd cheated in a card game or an angry ex, prepared to dodge a knife either way. His mouth dropped open upon seeing his older sister storming into the Jaeger bay, waving a lavender-flowered umbrella angrily.

"Dori?" Nori felt a little faint. "But you're--you're _dead_."

"Do I _look_ dead to you?" Dori chugged to a halt in front of him, breathing hard. Her eyes overflowed with tears as she choked, "You absolute _bastard!_ " and slugged Nori so hard that he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, his head ringing.

Distantly, Nori heard an enraged roar. He knew that roar, Nori thought fuzzily. _Oh shit_. 

Dwalin was heading across the Jaeger bay at full steam like an angry Kaiju (only with no tentacles or weird mouth-thingies, obviously.) Nori struggled to his feet and spread his arms out, blocking Dwalin from reaching Dori.

"Don't you dare kill her she's my older sister!" Nori said rapid-fire.

Dwalin paused, his fists flexing at his sides. Eyeing Dori suspiciously, he growled, "I know. But I don't care if she's the Queen of Khazad-dum, she doesn't get to hit you."

"And you know that I can take care of myself. If she wasn't my sister, she'd have a knife in her already. Now back off," Nori said calmly.

"I'm watching you," Dwalin warned Dori. Nori gave him an exasperated look and pointed away until Dwalin took the hint and went to go lurk by a workbench, still glowering at Dori.

"You've found yourself another guard dog, I see," Dori said, pursing her lips. 

Nori rolled his eyes. Five minutes after returning from the presumed-dead, and Dori was already irritating him. It was like a law of nature.

"Nori?" Ori called from deeper into the Jaeger bay. "Kili said he saw someone punch you out. Are you okay?" She came around the corner of a tall equipment rack and saw Dori standing next to him. Ori's mouth dropped open.

Nori was prepared to swear an oath that Ori had actually teleported across twenty feet of space while screaming Dori's name. "You're not dead!" she babbled, launching herself into Dori's arms. "You're alive, you're alive!" Laughing, Dori spun her around. 

Nori watched them with a bittersweet tinge to his happiness. He knew he'd missed out on a lot of Ori's early childhood, but he couldn't regret his choice. Someone had to do the dirty work to keep the family afloat, first in Erebor and then in New Belegost, and Nori found that doing the dirty work came like second nature to him. And while Dori might have bitched about how Nori got the money, she never turned it down when it came time to pay the rent.

So Nori told his jealous asshole self to shut the fuck up and stop envying Dori and Ori's closeness. Dori had been more of a mother to their little sister than their actual mother ever had.

"Where were you?" Ori demanded as soon as Dori put her down. "I couldn't find you _anywhere_!" Considering that Ori's specialty as a hacker was finding people, that was saying something. Nori had taken a job with some of the scariest bastards he'd ever met in order to get so lost that Ori couldn't find him.

Nori acknowledged that that had been a completely selfish, asshole move on his part.

"That is a long story," Dori said wearily. "Perhaps we could discuss it over tea?" 

Settled at a table in the mess hall, Dori cradled a mug in her hands and said, "You must understand, I thought you were dead. I saw you get on that plane and a few minutes later I saw it taken out by a Kaiju's tail."

"Ah," Nori said. "We weren't on the plane. Obviously."

"Nori saw some guy he owed money to, so we got off as soon as we'd gotten on," Ori piped up.

"That was the last plane out of New Belegost," Dori said, baring her teeth in something unlike a smile. "Thank Mahal you weren't on it, but really? Really, Nori? You got off the _last plane out_ because you owed some two-bit hoodlum money?"

"Yeah, a two-bit hoodlum who would have knifed me the minute he saw me." Frowning, Nori flicked a stray piece of rice off the table.

"Moving on," Ori said firmly. "We weren't on the plane and you thought we were dead. Then what?"

"There was a refugee bus headed east, toward Khazad-dum and Erebor. I stayed on it until we made a pit stop in the Shire, and then I got off." Dori smoothed her hand over her tightly woven braids (pointlessly, since as always they were perfect.) 

"The Shire? Why did you stop in the Shire?"

"I didn't just stop in the Shire, little jewel. I stayed there. Eventually I bought a storefront and started a little tea shop."

Dori did look like she was doing well financially, wearing an impeccably pressed lavender shirt layered under a silver-grey waistcoat, jeans that Nori would bet were custom fit, and expensive-looking loafers. Obviously her "little tea shop" had been a success.

"We didn't hear much about the Kaiju in the Shire. They've never been hit, since the Grey Havens stand between them and the open ocean. But there were a number of foolhardy Hobbits--and less of them were Tooks than you might expect--who convinced the Thain that the Shire should build a Jaeger of their own." Dori took a sip of tea and pursed her lips in disapproval (whether of the Jaeger idea or the taste of the mess hall's awful tea, Nori wasn't sure.)

Putting the teacup down, Dori continued, "I thought that Bilbo and his friends were crazy for wanting to pilot a Jaeger, but they wouldn't listen to reason. And then a week ago I received a letter from Bilbo telling me all about the people they've met at Grey Havens Station. Including dear little Ori and her pilot brother Nori, last name of Rivers." Dori's full glare had made strong men run away. Nori was made of sterner stuff than that, but he still shifted nervously and ducked his head.

"Well, that explains why I couldn't find you," Ori said. "The Shire's systems are notoriously isolated from the rest of the web. I couldn't access any of the records that would have told me where you were." She glared at both of them, a miniature version of Dori's glare. "Don't you dare disappear on me again or I will put trackers on _both_ of you."

This time both of them shuffled nervously and ducked their heads. "I promise, Dormouse," Nori muttered.

"I would never disappear on purpose, Ori. I thought you were dead. But yes, I promise," Dori said.

Ori's watch played the first few notes of a popular song. She touched the screen and made a despairing noise. "I'm about to be late to my shift! I have to go." Getting up, she walked behind Dori and hugged her, hooking her chin over Dori's shoulder and mumbling, "Don't you dare disappear again."

"I won't, little jewel, I promise," Dori said, squeezing her hand. Looking suspiciously red-eyed, Ori tore herself away and headed for the elevator at a fast jog.

Left alone, the two older Rivers siblings stared at their mugs without talking for a few minutes.

"So, the guard dog--"

"His name is Dwalin Fundinson. He's my co-pilot."

"Fundinson?" Dori raised her eyebrows. "A noble?" Only nobles kept the tradition of using their father's given name as their surname, though the royals in the direct line of succession used "Durin" as their last name instead.

Nori winced, knowing exactly what Dori was thinking. "Yeah, he's... actually King Thorin's cousin."

"A noble." Dori placed her teacup on the table very precisely. "Really. I'm surprised at you, Nori. I have to admit that I thought you were smarter than that."

Nori glared. "I'm not his dirty secret, Dori. The whole base knows we're lovers."

Dori's mouth flattened out. "Does his family know you're lovers?" she asked pointedly.

"His brother is a Jaeger pilot trainer and his cousins all live on base, so yeah, they know." Nori met his sister's pale blue eyes steadily. "I'm not going to repeat our mother's mistakes."

"No, you'll find new and exciting mistakes to make," Dori snorted. "Well, don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, big sister," Nori said sweetly.

The Hobbit pilots happened to come into the mess hall at that point, all of them greeting Dori excitedly. It turned out that not only did Dori know them all, she appeared to be good friends with them. Hobbits were fussy and and generally a pain in the ass, as far as Nori was concerned, so of course Dori got along well with them. 

Nori made his escape as the loudest, bossiest Hobbit, a woman apparently named Lobelia, was in the middle of telling Dori all about the Battle of the Grey Havens. Nori did not particularly want to be there when Dori figured out exactly how close Nori had come to dying that day. 

Hey, their Jaeger's electrical systems had been shot and all they'd had left was flare guns. It made _complete sense_ for Dwalin and Nori to pop the hatch on top of their Jaeger and shoot the Kaiju in the eyes. He definitely was never going to tell Dori that it was only Dwalin's quick reflexes and long arms that had saved Nori from getting thrown right off the Jaeger when the Kaiju had hit it in retaliation.

Dwalin had spent this entire time lurking like a total creeper in the upper portion of the mess hall where he had a good view of the table where Dori, Nori, and Ori had been sitting. Nori met his eyes, flashed the Iglishmiek signs for "your room, five minutes," and walked away.

***

Nori was sitting on Dwalin's bunk with his elbows resting on his knees when Dwalin entered the room. "Hey," Nori said half-heartedly.

Dwalin let the door swing shut behind him. "You need melding?" he asked. Nori wasn't sure why he bothered asking when he already knew the answer.

Melding was what they called the Jaeger pilots' need for physical closeness. It usually happened after the Drift, but strong emotion could trigger a need for it too. What non-pilots didn't understand was that it wasn't just physical closeness that they shared; it was the residual psychic bond that the Drift created between pilots. Physical closeness just strengthened the link.

Jaeger pilot rumor said that if you Drifted together long enough, you could end up permanently linked even when you were apart. Nori found that thought terrifying.

"Yeah," Nori told the floor. At the edge of his vision, he saw Dwalin untie his boots and then step out of them, followed by the rustle of him removing his uniform.

"You need skin-to-skin." It wasn't a question.

Nori closed his eyes. Things you needed were weaknesses. They made you vulnerable. "Yeah," he said, then forced himself to get up and take off his boots and uniform, stripping down to his boxer-briefs just as Dwalin had.

Dwalin settled on his side on the narrow bunk, leaving space in front of him for Nori, who shuffled over to the bunk and settled on his side. Reluctantly, Nori slowly shifted until his bare back was pressed to Dwalin's chest and their legs were touching. He felt simultaneous relief and dread as their bond awakened.

There was a weird doubling sensation where he could feel Dwalin could feel Nori could feel Dwalin, deeply disorienting for the few moments until they completed the meld and suddenly they could feel everything at the same time. Nori sighed, feeling the breath as it left Dwalin's chest.

"I thought she was dead," Nori said to Dwalin, even though he knew Dwalin already knew, could already see the memory of New Belegost that day, _the cheap tenements of the people who weren't rich enough to live under the mountain being crushed beneath the Kaiju's feet._

_The sound of panicked shouting as the guardsmen order citizens onto planes and busses. Ori crying into his neck, barely small enough to be carried. She's heavy enough that his arms are already protesting. The relief of getting on the plane, but it's short-lived just like Nori will be if they see him. Pushing past the guardsmen to get off the plane, got to get off now before they see me, they'll kill me right in front of Ori and then maybe they'll kill her too just out of spite. Out on the tarmac, looking for Dori, can't see her, hoping desperately that she got on a bus to Khazad-dum already._

_Running flat out across the tarmac, arms tiring quickly from carrying Ori's weight. The Kaiju's tail flicking lazily across the sky and hitting the plane as it takes off, sending it screaming to the ground in a cloud of black smoke. Realizing that could have been them, would have been them if Nori hadn't gotten off the plane. Guardsman waving them to a bus, get in, get in, you have a child with you, get on the bus._

_Sitting in a haze of exhaustion, slumped in the bus seat, Ori's narrow back shaking with sobs as she hangs onto his neck so hard that she's almost choking him. Finally asking where the bus is going. The Grey Havens, he's told. Isn't that by the sea? he asks. Nobody wants to live by the sea anymore. That's where the monsters come from._

_He's told that the Elves there have some kind of protection against Kaiju. He wonders furiously why they hadn't lent their protection to New Belegost, then tells himself to be reasonable, it's two hundred miles between New Belegost and the Grey Havens._

_There's a part of him that's still angry, though, when he sees the pristine towers of the Grey Havens shining in the sun like there aren't Kaiju strolling out of the ocean depths and tearing their way inland every few years._

_We'll be safe here, he tells Ori, and when she asks him where Dori is he can't bring himself to lie so he just says he doesn't know. It's true, after all._

Nori sucked in a long breath, body jerking as he pulled himself out of the memory. Dwalin was rubbing his hand over Nori's chest and upper arm and it felt wonderful even as Nori hated himself for needing it so much.

If it was just the memory-sharing in the Drift and the (amazing) sex, he'd be okay with it. But the need for contact, the need for _anyone_ (someone) ( _Dwalin_ ) was terrifying. And the worst part was that he could feel Dwalin feeling his thoughts, he could feel the hurt that to anyone outside Dwalin's head would look like anger.

It was too much, way too much. No wonder Jaeger pilots always went a little bit crazy. No one was meant to feel this much of the inside of anyone else's head. Particularly not when that person was Nori Rivers. 

_Fuck, poor Dwalin, I wouldn't blame him for hating the Marshal for saddling him with a partner as fucked in the head as I am._

Dwalin's anger at hearing that thought made Nori's head hurt. "You're my partner," Dwalin said out loud, but inside his head he said _mine you're my partner my Nori mine_ and the sense of swelling possessiveness crashed over Nori's head like a wave.

Gasping, Nori twisted away and sat up on the edge of the bed. He gripped the edge of the mattress hard, feeling vertigo at suddenly being only one mind in one body. "I have to go," he said, not looking at Dwalin. It didn't matter, he could still feel it when Dwalin reached for him, his hand hovering just short of touching Nori's back.

"I have to go," Nori repeated. Standing, he forced himself to put on his uniform, the fabric feeling like sandpaper to his oversensitized skin. He grabbed his boots and put his hand on the inside door handle, still feeling Dwalin watching him. 

Nori thunked his head against the inside of the door. "I'm sorry," he said. 

Dwalin didn't say anything out loud but he didn't have to. Nori could feel him through the link, anger/hurt/confusion/longing/need. Nori hated to imagine what he was sending back across the link. He was sure it wasn't pleasant.

The metal door closing between them broke the last bit of connection between their psyches. Nori staggered and almost went to his knees with the force of it, but he forced himself to walk very calmly across the corridor and into his room. 

And if he curled into a little ball in the corner of his room and shook for a while, there was no one else inside his head to see it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've messed with Hobbit ages a bit to make Bilbo's generation all pretty much the same age. Hobbit nerds will realize that Primula is Saradoc's aunt; however, in a large family, aunts and uncles being the same age as (or younger than!) their nieces or nephews is actually pretty common.

Bilbo Baggins met his first Dwarf when he was ten years old.

He didn't even realize at first that the sad lady sitting on the bench outside the general store was a Dwarf. Every grown-up was big to him, and some city Hobbits wore boots. He didn't notice her un-Hobbitish large rounded ears at all.

"I can tell you a story," Bilbo told the sad lady, who was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. 

"I'm sorry?" she asked, sounding surprised as she looked up at him.

"My mum tells me stories when I'm sad. I'll tell you a story and then you won't be sad anymore." Bilbo smiled at her, absolutely certain that it would work. It always worked when his mum did it.

"Thank you, little one." She smiled a little at him, though she still looked sad. 

When Belladonna Baggins finished putting her order in for the week and went to collect her son from the bench outside where he had begged to be allowed to wait because the general store was so boring, she found him telling one of his bedtime stories to a Dwarf. 

Belladonna felt a brief twinge of maternal fear until she registered that the Dwarf had a tear-stained face and red eyes, and was nodding along seriously as Bilbo explained the saga of Bullroarer the Stuffed Rabbit. All in all, this was the least intimidating-looking Dwarf she'd ever seen.

"Mum!" Bilbo said, giving her a happy, gap-toothed grin. "I was telling Miss Dori all about Bullroarer fighting the monsters."

The Dwarf stood and gave her a neat bow. "Dori Rivers, at your service."

Belladonna curtsied. "I'm Belladonna Baggins, and this is my son, Bilbo Baggins. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."

"And I, yours," Dori said, nodding politely.

With a quick glance, Belladonna noticed the torn knees of the Dwarf's tidy trousers and the bruises and abraded skin on her palms. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from, Ms. Rivers?"

The answer sounded unutterably tired. "New Belegost." 

There had been a Kaiju attack in New Belegost yesterday and Dori's shoes were covered in red road dust. Belladonna put the pieces together and demanded, "Did you walk here from the truckstop at Waymeet? But that must be twenty miles!"

Dori paused and then nodded. "It's a lovely day for a walk."

Actually, the afternoon had been hot and humid, the air still and heavy with the promise of an oncoming storm. Summer storms in the Shire could be fierce, as storms pushed their way across the open plains. Belladonna nodded decisively. "Well, then I'm sure you've worked up quite an appetite. Which is fortunate, because you'll be joining us for dinner."

"You're too kind, but I really couldn't," Dori said apologetically. Her eyes were welling with tears again.

"Nonsense," Belladonna said crisply. "I couldn't call myself a proper Hobbit if I didn't at least feed you to pay you back for the time you spent looking after my son." She smiled triumphantly as Dori reluctantly nodded in agreement. Never let it be said that a daughter of the Old Took couldn't get the better of someone in negotiations.

Dinner was a comfortable affair. Dori was very quiet and Bungo had never been the talkative sort, but Bilbo filled the room with his chattering and Belladonna stepped in to keep the conversation going whenever it lagged. Bilbo seemed very impressed with his new Dwarven friend, who smiled at his antics despite her evident distress.

After dinner, Belladonna sent Bilbo off with Bungo to stargaze. The two of them shared a love of the stars and Belladonna would often hear Bungo telling Bilbo the stories behind the constellations. She did everything that she could to encourage their shared interest, since she knew that Bungo sometimes felt like he didn't fit in with his curious, adventurous wife and child.

"Smoke?" she asked Dori as they finished doing the dishes. Bungo was a much better cook than Belladonna, so the division of labor in the household was that Bungo cooked and she did the washing up.

Dori patted her vest pocket, frowning. "I must have dropped my pipe when... when..." Her eyes went distant.

"You can use my spare," Belladonna said, steering Dori with a hand on her elbow when the Dwarf appeared to lose the will to keep moving.

They sat on the bench by the lane, smoking quietly. The scent of night-blooming flowers rose heavy in the air. 

"Dori," Belladonna said. They had already conclusively answered the question of given versus family name usage. "You came from New Belegost. You walked all the way to Hobbiton from the truck stop on the East-West Road rather than taking a refugee bus to Khazad-dum. Where were you going?"

Dori took a deep breath, releasing the smoke slowly. "I don't know," she said very quietly. "I just got off the bus and started walking."

Belladonna placed her hand on Dori's larger, rougher hand and squeezed, feeling relieved when Dori turned her hand over and returned the pressure.

"Who did you lose?" Belladonna asked gently.

Dori didn't say anything for a few minutes. Belladonna waited until she was ready to speak. Finally, the Dwarf said, "My brother and sister. Nori and Ori. Ori is only twenty-seven. I don't know how old that is in Hobbit ages, but your son looks like he's about the same age, maybe a little younger."

"I'm so sorry," Belladonna said.

Dori sucked in a breath, obviously trying to keep her composure. "They only had two seats left on the last plane out and I told Nori to take Ori and that I'd catch up with them later. Nori is--was a little shit sometimes but he's--he was my little brother." Her shoulders shook in a single, tightly controlled sob. "I just wanted them to be safe. But the plane--the Kaiju, it--"

Belladonna put her arm around Dori's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Dori," she said.

Dori sobbed. "I got off the bus because I couldn't see a point to it. I was just going to walk and keep walking until... until..."

"Shh," Belladonna hushed her, rubbing her hand up and down Dori's back. The Dwarf slumped, curling her much larger frame up so that she could rest her head on Belladonna's shoulder. 

Belladonna nodded decisively to herself. One thing was for sure. She wasn't going to let Dori out of her sight until she was sure the Dwarf wouldn't "just start walking" again.

She didn't think that Bungo would mind having a houseguest for a while. And if he did, she was sure she could talk him into it.

***

Five years after New Belegost, Dori sat with Belladonna at the kitchen table in Bag End.

"I couldn't," Dori said, looking from Belladonna to the contract lying on the table in front of her.

"Dori, you're not happy working construction. I know that running a tea-shop would make you happy and that you'd be good at it." Belladonna smiled encouragingly at her.

Dori shook her head. "I can't take charity from you, Bella. You and Bungo have been so good to me. I can't ever repay you for the kindness you showed me when I first came to the Shire."

Dori had ended up staying at Bag End for three months while she found work with a construction company and built up the money for a deposit on a studio apartment in downtown Hobbiton. Belladonna and Bungo's kindness and Bilbo's sweetness and curiosity had kept her going through the darkest days of her life.

In the five years since, Dori had worked hard to build up the money to open her own business. She didn't hate construction work, but it wasn't what she wanted to do with her life. But starting a business was expensive and the bank had turned her down when she applied for a small business loan.

Which led them here to this moment, sitting at the kitchen table at Bag End while Belladonna Baggins offered to loan her more money than Dori had ever seen in her life.

Belladonna leaned forward and folded her hands on the table. "It isn't charity, Dori. It's an investment. I'm a daughter of the Old Took, after all. I know a good business opportunity when I see it."

Dori raised an eyebrow at her. "A good business investment is all this is?" 

"And a chance to help my best friend achieve her dream." Belladonna had that look on her face that said she knew she'd won the argument. 

Dori had a brief flash of the same look on Nori's face, back when they were getting along more often than not. A wave of grief washed over her, tightening her throat and stinging in her eyes.

"Dori?" Belladonna asked, reaching across the table to lay her hand on Dori's.

"Just... memories."

"Ah," Belladonna said softly, lacing their fingers together.

"I'll be going along with my life, feeling all right, even happy some days, and then... boom. I'll be blindsided by some memory of the way Ori would stick her tongue out when she drew or Nori's shit-eating grin when he thought he'd gotten away with something. I just miss them so much, you know?" Dori felt the tears coming and tried to push them back. "I thought it would stop being this raw eventually."

"Oh, Dori." Belladonna smiled gently at her. "It's grief, honey--it doesn't ever really go away. You just learn to live with it. Come on," she said, standing up and tugging on Dori's hand. "Let's go have a smoke. You can make up your mind about the loan later. It'll be there."

And if Dori fell a little bit more in love then with her happily married best friend, well--nobody ever needed to know.

***

Fifteen years after opening her tea shop, Dori hid a smile as she eavesdropped on the excited chatter happening at the corner table. 

Paladin Took was attempting to convince Saradoc Brandybuck of something having to do with the Tuckborough Bullroarers' chances against the Michel Delving Stallions in the semifinals (Dori wasn't sure for which sport.) Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck appeared to be on again this week, both of them listening to imported Human music on Primula's music player with an earbud in one ear, completely ignoring the rest of the table. Meanwhile, Bilbo Baggins and Lobelia Bracegirdle argued at the top of their lungs about the specifications and fighting abilities of their favorite Jaegers. 

Dori lost track of their conversation as she rang up a customer. The next time she tuned in, all six of them appeared to be having an intense discussion about Jaegers.

"All I'm saying is that there is no reason why a Jaeger has to be limited to two pilots. Elves use three!" Lobelia poked at the table with her index finger in emphasis.

Bilbo was not convinced. "Every other race uses two pilots. A Hobbit Jaeger would--"

"A Hobbit Jaeger? You're just speaking theoretically, right?" Dori hadn't intended to interrupt the conversation, but the kids' obsession with Jaegers these days brought up bad memories of New Belegost falling to the Kaiju.

"The Thain announced it this morning," Bilbo said. 

Paladin broke in, exuberant as always, "The Shire is going to provide a Hobbit-piloted Jaeger to help with the defenses at the Grey Havens! Without the Jaeger base at the Grey Havens, we would have been stomped by Kaiju years ago."

Dori swallowed hard against that image.

Saradoc grinned. "And they're looking for pilots! Me and Paladin are going to be Jaeger pilots."

"All of us are," Lobelia said stubbornly.

Bilbo looked sympathetically at Dori. Out of all of them, he was the only one who knew Dori's history. "Don't worry, Aunt Dori. I'd never do anything so mad as to pilot a Jaeger. We Bagginses are respectable! Except for this madman," he laughed as Drogo punched him in the arm.

They were all so young. Much too young for the Thain to even consider accepting them for pilot training, Dori reassured herself. They would stay safe in the Shire, and never face the fury and terror of a Kaiju for themselves.

Certainly young Bilbo never would. He was right--Bagginses were far too responsible and respectable to consider such a foolish notion.

The error she made lay in not considering the fact that he was also a Took, and very much his mother's son.

***

Five years later, Dori saw her little brother for the first time in twenty-five years and the first thing she did was punch him in the face so hard that she knocked him to the floor. 

She was just so _angry_ at him. How could Nori be standing there, smirk on his face, looking exactly like he always did when she'd been mourning him for twenty-five years? Did he even care?

Then Ori appeared, a woman almost grown instead of the child she remembered. Dori felt almost as if she was going into shock. She could not process all of her emotions, and so she defaulted to the angry sarcasm that she and Nori had used to communicate since the first time he showed up with money in his pockets and no explanation for how it got there.

"I was just so _angry_ at him," Dori concluded.

Ori had listened to her explanation patiently with a sympathetic look on her face, but her only response was, "Okay. Now you're going to apologize to Nori for punching him and tell him everything you just told me."

"What?" Dori hadn't expected that. "Ori, little jewel, he wouldn't listen. He never listens--"

"Because you never listen to him either. The two of you are _both_ responsible for how fucked up things are between you."

Dori's mouth dropped open. She stared at Ori for a few moments before saying weakly, "You really have grown up."

"Yes, I have. I grew up because I had to. You were gone and Nori was a mess. I used to have to remind him to eat because otherwise he'd work until he passed out. He got better after he got hired to work on Jaegers and we moved on base, but I still took care of him as much as he took care of me."

Dori slammed her mug down on the table almost hard enough to break it. "If he neglected you--"

"No. Stop." Ori squared her jaw, leaning forward and saying fiercely, "You don't get to blame Nori for that. He did as well as he could after becoming basically a single parent when he was barely an adult himself. So back off and listen to me."

Dori looked at her little sister and finally saw past the pigtailed child of her memories to the young woman that Ori had become. Her hair was cut to shoulder-length, blunt and modern, with only two braids woven into it on either side from front to back. She wore a Jaeger Guard jumpsuit with her name stitched on a patch on the left-hand side and patches with the symbols of the Grey Havens Jaegers on the other side. 

Ori was no child anymore. She had grown up while Dori hadn't been there to see it. Dori quietly mourned the years that she had missed from her little sister's life.

"All right," Dori said. "I'm listening."

Ori stared her in the eyes and then nodded, apparently convinced of her sincerity. "Now, here's what you're going to do. You're going to apologize to Nori and then you're going to have a civil conversation with him, or I swear to Mahal I will make both of you go see Dr. Galadriel for counseling sessions."

So, twenty-five years after the last time they had shared a meal, Dori sat uncomfortably with Nori at one of the private tables in a nearby restaurant in the Grey Havens.

Ordering drinks and dinner took up a little time before they were stuck sitting in awkward silence, waiting for their food to arrive. There was only so long that she could fidget with her water glass before the awkwardness became unbearable.

Dori sighed. She had promised Ori, after all. "I'm sorry I punched you. I shouldn't have done that."

"Well, then, I guess I should say that I'm sorry for stealing your credit card and ordering all that kinky Dwarf/Elf porn with it," Nori said casually.

" _What?_ " Dori gripped the edge of the table, which creaked in protest.

Nori smiled at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Still willing to believe anything of me, I see."

Dori relaxed a little. "You're baiting me."

"Of course I am. I'd never order something so entirely not to your tastes. Please, I ordered you only the finest Dwarf/Hobbit porn."

Red flashed before her eyes. Dori forced herself to fold her hands in her lap and take a deep, calming breath instead of yelling at him. Once she felt that she could control her voice, she said, "Okay. I guess I deserved some payback for my actions."

"That's awfully mature of you, big sister." Nori's mouth quirked bitterly. "Ori threatened you if you didn't apologize, didn't she?"

"Of course she did." Dori sighed. "Look, the two of us fighting is making Ori unhappy. And we may not agree on anything else, but we can at least agree that we would both do everything in our power to make Ori happy."

"Agreed. So we'll pretend to get along for Ori's sake and everything will be fine," he said, standing up. "No need to prolong this charade."

Dori started to her feet. "Nori, wait." He didn't turn around, angrily stalking out of the restaurant.

The waiter stopped by the table. "Is everything all right?"

"Perfect," Dori said, sinking into her chair. "You can box up his meal. Actually, why don't you box up mine as well and bring the check. I'm afraid I've lost my appetite."

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on tumblr at http://garafthel.tumblr.com.


End file.
